An update from the film’s benevolent dictator.

Since I last checked in, I picture locked the movie. Can you believe?? I’m finished with the edit. I feel like I’ve been running a marathon for so long, I forgot mid-race that it might end, making the first hint of finish line a total surprise. Now it’s being sound designed and scored and we’re about to submit to festivals.

But so I meant to hand over the picture locked cut to my unbelievably kind and talented sound designer, Hollis Smith, on my birthday, August 16th (thirty oneDERFUL), but the delivery technically took place two days later. Revising the edit was a very fun phase of this project. Having a full cut, being able to look at it and see a movie, but then going in and doing these tweaks that so deeply resonated throughout the whole of the thing–that was delightful. A nice change of pace from the initial edit, which often felt like throwing myself into a wall. A moment of darkness in particular descended after I had been editing for a few weeks and was only on scene 42 (out of 124). But I guess the lesson there is if you throw something at a wall enough times, you’ll drop the wall eventually.

Man, though. Picture lock is a funny mental hurdle. It marked the first time I would show the movie to someone and not give my standard addendum: if you have any notes, let me know. Now I say, this is it. This is the thing I’ve invested my entire self into for two years. This is what it looks like, basically finished. Which is scary. That is a scary thing to say.

But when I watch this movie, which I have seen hundreds of thousands of millions of times, I still fall into the story. Catherine Missal’s performance still leaves me incredibly moved and Anna Margaret Hollyman still makes me laugh. I remain grateful and amazed that character conversations I had with David Andrew Macdonald and Brendan Griffin blossomed into performances that are worlds better than what I could have imagined hoping for. This cast knocked it out of the park and I am so excited for them to see themselves on a big screen.

We’re close, guys. Thank you so much for your interest and support and love.